I had some pretty good selfish reasons to want not to like "Born Round," New York Timesman Frank Bruni's memoir, but I was unable to escape the obvious: The book is terrific.

I won't give a full-fledged rave because, with his perch at the NYT, his incredible connections beyond, his stunning array of to-die-for blurbers, his impossbily accomplished resume, and his sophisticated-but-not-showy writing style, he doesn't need it.

Honestly, I never heard of a "green" oil change. But my pals over at Mike's Automotive in Somerville say they're offering one now, and I believe them.

Yes, I could be falling for a heinous act of greenwashing, but I've been relying on this business for 17 years, and if they're lyin', I'm a complete fool and you probably would have to question anything I say. Nevertheless, I trust them.

A kerfuffle in Australia has arisen over an advocacy ad that likens abuse of food with abuse of heroin, and I like it. The tagline asks a question not unlike I've asked before: If we acknowledge that whole classes of food are junk, why do we eat it?

From the Australian Broadcasting Co. story:

I wanted to call your attention to the book of this post's title, which I read a couple of weeks ago. Burt Nordstrand, a successful Upper Midwestern businessman, wrote it with Carol Pine; its subhead is "An Exploration of Addiction and Recovery."

A friend who's highly, highly placed in the columnist universe and has written a number of books once told me, "There's only two good days when you write a book. The day it comes out and the day you get the dough." [I'd ID him/her, but it was a private comment.]

The Daily Mail reports from Hong Kong on the McWedding, in which 100 guests can enjoy an entire catered affair for only $400, at the local McDonald's.

I suppose it has the virtue of being unusual, at least until billions and billions decide to do it too, but it's not without drawbacks:

Walmart is a giant in the world of sustainability — well, it's the giant in any world in which it strides.

Last week, it raised its sustainability quotient, vowing to "put more locally grown food in Wal-Mart stores in the United States, invest in training and infrastructure for small and medium-size farmers, particularly in emerging markets, and begin to measure how efficiently large suppliers grow and get their produce into stores," the New York Times reported.

Some of you may recall that I engaged fellow blogger "VB" in a conversation about the existence of food addiction last week, and she has responded. In part, here's what she said: 

Here's an approximation of a letter I sent to the San Francisco city supervisor who is the swing vote in an effort to bar toys from being used as incentives to purchase food:

One in three children born today will develop Type 2 diabetes in their lifetime. Based on current rates of overweight and obesity, more will suffer a range of debilitating chronic diseases related to diet.

I don't have much to say about Shain's choice, which is to eat only raw foods. But one thing he said is that he's done it before, and every time he does, his constantly runny nose clears out in a day or two. Sounds like an allergy to something processed, though of course, I'm no doctor. I bet there are millions of people, literally, who would really benefit from doing this kind of foods exploration.